Air Balloon Road (Sarah)

Some records can leave you cold, some give a momentary relief from harsh reality, others can take you to a whole new world and if you are lucky you never ever leave. Such as happened to me when i bought the Sarah Records compilation Air Balloon Road many years ago, it introduced me to the mysterious world of twee pop and C86, and i've remained ever since.

Sarah released periodic compilations of the pick of songs from their singles (well their pick anyway, some great songs never made it), Air Balloon Road covers the early period of Sarah and includes the early classics like the Sea Urchins' blissful pop song "Pristine Christine" which of course was the very first single on the label as well as wonderful tracks like The Field Mice's melancholic "End of the affair" and The Orchids' "Its only obvious". Wonderful indie pop tunes which sound as fresh today as they did in the early 90s.

"Darkest blue" by Gentle Despite is another favourite, plus don't forget Another Sunny Day and Brighter, The Golden Dawn, Action Painting, the pop trash of 14 Iced Bears' "come get me"... well all 23 tracks are just essential. This is probably as close as you could ever get to something as banal as "The best of Sarah", although there were many other great songs to come this is truly a document of a golden age.